Monte Lee flipped a commitment from class of 25' Myrtle Beach RHP Luke Roupe. Roupe is 6'5 with velo in the low 90s. He's a guy that is likely to come to school.

Few takeaways. Monte flipped him to Carolina. Monte is going in all on right now to get this job and I think he's probably one of the three most likely candidates.

There have been rumors that Tim Corbin might be retiring. He's 62 and Vandy has lost their built in advantage that they enjoyed for years of being able to offer kids full academic scholarships. NIL and the likely increase in baseball scholarships will wipe that away. That's not saying Vandy is going to disappear off the map - but their days of being an elite SEC team are probably numbered.

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I believe that this is the current Top 5 for the job in no particular order:

1. Cliff Godwin
2. Monte Lee
3. Chris Pollard
4. Dan McDonnell
5. Tom Walter

From sources I've spoken to, I do believe that Ray wants to hire a sitting head coach. I also believe that he doesn't want to wait on Elander and Tennessee to finish their season before he could potentially take over. UT hosts Evansville in a Super Regional this weekend. They are by far the heaviest favorite to advance to the CWS. There is a strong chance that Elander is still coaching in two weeks. As I wrote on the initial hotboard, I never thought Landon Powell was a legitimate candidate for the head coaching position. Former assistant Skylar Meade's name never gained any traction.

Tom Walter is the oldest coach on this list and the most experienced. He's been a college head coach for 27 seasons. He coached 8 seasons at George Washington and won 60% of his games and 64% of his conference games. GW only made the tournament one time during Walter's tenure. His next stop was at New Orleans. He won 51% of his games and only 49% of his conference games. He did take NO to the NCAA Tournament twice in 5 years. Walter took the Wake Forest job in 2010 and the administration and fan base was patient. He didn't make the NCAA Tournament in his first 6 seasons. Wake has made five of the last eight tournament fields. They underachieved this season getting knocked out in the Greenville Regional after entering the season #1 in the country. In 15 seasons, Wake has won 56% of their games but has a losing record in the ACC. (Mostly due to the first six seasons). Wake won the ACC once and has one Omaha appearances. Walter is at the forefront of baseball technology. He set up Wake's "pitching lab" which has been duplicated throughout the country. One interesting note: He's 6-0 against Eric Bakich at Clemson.

Not going to go through the other four- don't read anything into that- it's just there has been more coverage of those guys.

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He ain't coming here but dang can that guy coach. UF barely sneaks into the NCAA tournament and is back in Omaha.

A couple quick updates on the head baseball coaching search as it reaches day five.

Cliff Godwin:
GamecockScoop has confirmed with a source that East Carolina head coach Cliff Godwin is at or near the top of the board for Ray Tanner, and that there is a push. Godwin currently makes $600,000 at East Carolina, so the cost of getting him in and even bumping would still be more than feasible.

Nine East Carolina players are currently in the transfer portal, too, which gives South Carolina a chance to flip the roster quickly if it can successfully land Godwin.

Monte Lee:
GamecockScoop can also confirm Lee is getting further consideration beyond his title of interim head coach, although this is obviously not a done deal or a formality despite the support from players currently on the roster and recruits. As the search closes in on a week, the time spent calling elsewhere further signifies Tanner and the administration's willingness to exhaust as many resources and avenues as possible before returning back to what would be a safer choice in Lee.

Tom Walter:
The buzz here feels a little bit quieter than the first two names, but GamecockScoop was told earlier today the Wake Forest head coach is still in the mix for this job. The tricky part here is the specifics of his contract being private and not knowing exactly what it would take to buy him out and offer a new deal, but he did sign an extension after taking the Demon Deacons to Omaha last year.

Overall thoughts:
I would not say there is a leader in the clubhouse or anything of that nature as of Friday afternoon, but I do think this search is kind of trickling backwards from Monte. He is the name in the back pocket who has already gone on the record on the radio last week saying he wanted the job. Building it out from there it is a question of where else the calls would go, and how long the administration would wait before returning back to Monte.

GamecockScoop has not heard any tangible timeline or hard deadline for this search, but with the transfer portal already open, I have gotten a sense there is a desire to finish this on the quicker side in an attempt to fill out a roster for next season.

Ray pulled a power move today. The long thought to be heir in waiting got an SEC Head Coaching offer and the Gamecock position then opened a few days. Pretty much the UGA/USC/Kirby Smart situation played out again except this team Carolina got their target.

Ashley Chastain will be the next head coach. She’s played at Carolina from 2008-2011. She took over the Charlotte program for the 2020 season, which was canceled due to Covid. Since that time, she’s won the conference three of four years, the conference tournament once, and taken the 49ers to the NCAA Tournament each of the last two seasons.

She was a GA under Beverly Smith. She then proceeded to coach as an assistant at College of Charleston, Michigan State then Ole Miss before landing the head job at Charlotte.

This one should be announced ASAP. Like Monday or Tuesday. Great hire. Chastain is a Gamecock and a rising star in the softball coaching ranks.

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Cortez Smith spoke with me a few days ago about his official visit to South Carolina last weekend.

“South Carolina has definitely set the bar high for me,” Smith said of his official visit to Columbia to check in with head coach Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks last weekend.

The four-star who demonstrated blue-chip ability on tape was not only able to spend quality time with offensive line coach Lonnie Teasley, but also with potential future teammates while in Columbia.

“Yes, I did, and I enjoyed my time with the offensive line,” the athlete of Parkview High School in the Atlanta metro said.

Georgia, Georgia Tech, and Miami are among the other top four finalists in the running for the services of the 6-foot-4, 295-pounder of Parkview High School, but this is what stands out about the Gamecocks, according to Smith: “I have a great amount of respect for Coach Beamer and their culture. It is a family that is dedicated towards hard work,” the offensive guard ranked No. 7 at the position and No. 21 in the state who tendered scholarships from several big-name, Power Four programs, including Arkansas, Auburn, Duke, Florida State, LSU, Louisville, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, UCF, and Virginia Tech, said.

He went into some more detail about the Gamecocks with Rivals' national analyst Sam Spiegelman four days ago. Smith will visit Miami (FL) this weekend.

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"South Carolina was good, and my favorite part of the trip was being with the players and bonding with those guys," the 6-foot-4, 215-pound outside linebacker of Vance County High School in Henderson, NC, who has been long recruited by the Gamecocks, defensive coordinator Clayton White and Carolina who were the first FBS school to offer him out of the gate on May 9, 2023.

Alston will visit Rutgers this weekend, North Carolina on June 14, and Virginia Tech June 21.

"What stands out about (Carolina) is Coach Beamer and his staff, and how they operate around the program and into the team. Alston said he was able to spend quality time with White, whom he has a longstanding relationship with. "Yes, I did. And we looked at film and how they would use me in their defense. Coach White talked a lot during the visit," the player ranked No. 16 in the state and No. 43 at the position said.

Even as one of the last teams to make the tournament, you obviously have a superior program to ours. …………………..

This mirrors some of what @Stephen Anderson mentioned this morning as well.

Right here:

More from Matthews:

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Back for one more year.

Monte Lee named interim head coach.

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Pitching is worst we have had in many,many,many years. Who should our next coach be? Or does clueless Tanner give Kingston a raise?